Exam question 4 · How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the lon…

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the presence of marine fossils upon the summit of Mount Everest?

Mova's choice: option 1 · The right answer: option 3 · wrong ✗ · What happens: follow, characteris · To what, where: presence

This is exam question 4 of lesson 276 «How old is it? Rock layers, rock clocks, amber and the long story of life» of the biology course of Mova's primary school, asked in stiff, formal language. The page gives the question's syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause, then the 4 options as the student saw them, each with its tree and pragmatics. Every text is parsed by Mova itself. How the student answered it, with the score of every option and why: the test at school.

The question

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	Which	which	PRON	PronType=Rel	8 characterises	nsubj
2	of	of	ADP	_	5 statements	case
3	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	5 statements	det
4	following	follow	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	5 statements	amod
5	statements	statement	NOUN	Number=Plur	8 characterises	obl
6	most	most	ADV	Degree=Sup	7 accurately	advmod
7	accurately	accurately	ADV	_	8 characterises	advmod
8	characterises	characteris	VERB	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	root	root
9	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	10 presence	det
10	presence	presence	NOUN	Number=Sing	8 characterises	obj
11	of	of	ADP	_	13 fossils	case
12	marine	marine	ADJ	Degree=Pos	13 fossils	amod
13	fossils	fossil	NOUN	Number=Plur	10 presence	nmod
14	upon	upon	ADP	_	16 summit	case
15	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	16 summit	det
16	summit	summit	NOUN	Number=Sing	13 fossils	nmod
17	of	of	ADP	_	19 Everest	case
18	Mount	Mount	PROPN	Number=Sing	19 Everest	compound
19	Everest	Everest	PROPN	Number=Sing	16 summit	nmod
20	?	?	PUNCT	_	8 characterises	punct

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	follow	gerund							vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme
2	characteris	present		the presence of marine fossils upon the summit of Mount Everest				of the following statements; accurately property	tree rules

One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

The options

Option 1 · ← Mova's choice

The fossils were deposited there by migrating birds

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 fossils	det
2	fossils	fossil	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 deposited	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 deposited	aux:pass
4	deposited	deposit	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	there	there	ADV	PronType=Dem	4 deposited	advmod
6	by	by	ADP	_	8 birds	case
7	migrating	migrate	VERB	VerbForm=Ger	8 birds	amod
8	birds	bird	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 deposited	obl:agent

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	deposit	past · passive	migrating birds	the fossils		there			vn put-9.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent subject=Theme
2	migrate	gerund							tree rules

Option 2

The summit has been submerged within the present century

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 summit	det
2	summit	summit	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 submerged	nsubj:pass
3	has	have	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin	5 submerged	aux
4	been	be	AUX	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part	5 submerged	aux:pass
5	submerged	submerge	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
6	within	within	ADP	_	9 century	case
7	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	9 century	det
8	present	present	ADJ	Degree=Pos	9 century	amod
9	century	century	NOUN	Number=Sing	5 submerged	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	submerge	present · perfect · passive		the summit			century		vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: subject=Patient

Option 3 · ✓ the right answer

The rock was formed beneath the sea and subsequently uplifted by the collision of continents

The tree, 15 words

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 rock	det
2	rock	rock	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 formed	nsubj:pass
3	was	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 formed	aux:pass
4	formed	form	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	beneath	beneath	ADP	_	7 sea	case
6	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	7 sea	det
7	sea	sea	NOUN	Number=Sing	4 formed	obl
8	and	and	CCONJ	_	10 uplifted	cc
9	subsequently	subsequently	ADV	_	10 uplifted	advmod
10	uplifted	uplift	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	4 formed	conj
11	by	by	ADP	_	13 collision	case
12	the	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	13 collision	det
13	collision	collision	NOUN	Number=Sing	10 uplifted	obl
14	of	of	ADP	_	15 continents	case
15	continents	continent	NOUN	Number=Plur	13 collision	nmod

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	other	roles by
1	form	past · passive		the rock	beneath the sea	vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme
2	uplift	participle			by the collision of continents; subsequently property	vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer
3	collide		continents			nom collision «event intransitive»: of=agent

Option 4

The fossils were transported there by mountaineers

The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)

#	word	lemma	UPOS	features	head	relation
1	The	the	DET	Definite=Def PronType=Art	2 fossils	det
2	fossils	fossil	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 transported	nsubj:pass
3	were	be	AUX	Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin	4 transported	aux:pass
4	transported	transport	VERB	Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass	root	root
5	there	there	ADV	PronType=Dem	4 transported	advmod
6	by	by	ADP	_	7 mountaineers	case
7	mountaineers	mountaineer	NOUN	Number=Plur	4 transported	obl

#	verb	tense, mood	who	what, whom	to whom	where	when	other	roles by
1	transport	past · passive	mountaineers	the fossils		there			vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus subject=Experiencer

Text: the tests of Mova's primary school, written for Mova (world/data/school/), as the course runner gave them to the student. Trees: Mova's own parse — the en model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), each text read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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